Recent information suggests that, while many business sectors are moving to create interesting, engaging, and helpful digital marketing strategies, banking is lagging behind.
In fact, according to Don’t Get Left Behind: The Rise of Digital Marketing in Financial Services, (Marketo, 2015) financial institutions in general have been slow to change when it comes to marketing. This has a lot to do with inertia and the tendency to keep doing things simply because that’s how they’ve been done, but is exacerbated by fact that banks are generally conservative and relatively unwilling to experiment with new technology. According to the eBook, less than 15% of banks have mature digital marketing practices.
So it follows that uncoordinated and inconsistent online presence can be a big disadvantage for a bank, especially when it comes to attracting new business prospects - prospects who, on average, want better online bank services. In a recent survey, Fiserv found that 55% of small business owners consider technology resources when choosing a financial institution.
How is Building a Pipeline of Business Lending Prospects Affected?
Building a portfolio of new business loan prospects has never been easy. And today, thanks to pervasive online information, your potential prospects are smarter and more savvy than ever. By the time they contact the bank, they’ve done the research and prep work. They know the rates available, so all they really need is someone to guide them through the loan process.
It stands to reason that in an environment of universally available full information, you’ll need to adopt a different approach to attracting a pipeline of business loan prospects. Many businesses have found that a content-based marketing and sales strategy, developed with the aid of an experienced, qualified marketing agency, has put them on the right path. Maybe it would be a good decision for you too.
It's Time to Adopt New Ways to Attract Qualified Business Lending Leads
My experience with inbound marketing for banks has revealed three factors commonly standing in the way of the adoption of content-based inbound marketing.
- Business banking has historically been almost entirely built on personal relationships between customers and business bankers.
- Relationships are often nurtured over years.
- Business bankers closely guard the relationships.
- Bank marketing departments primarily focus on traditional retail advertising and promotion; inertia keeps them in their current path.
- The banking industry, by its nature, is conservative and very deliberate in its adoption of new technology and practices.
Does that mean there’s not much financial information online?
Not at all. Anyone who’s searched for financial information online knows what comes back after a search is a regular glut of content. But having access to lots of content isn’t the same as having the right content. Or having helpful content.
This suggests there’s an opportunity for banks willing to create and publish regular, educational, relevant financial content to attract qualified business lending prospects. The right information, as it were.
That’s what a consistent inbound marketing program will do. And that’s what a dedicated digital marketing agency can help you with.
What steps will you take to start building more consistently well-qualified high business lending leads?
Once you’re ready to make the jump to inbound, how will you know the right questions to ask?
Our helpful guide, which you can download here, explains some differences between firms, and recommends key questions for you to ask of any agency you're considering.
When’s the best time to build your new, more effective digital marketing presence?
Yesterday, if possible, assuming you have the ability to bend time to your wishes. The sooner your bank partners with a dedicated digital agency to create a proper inbound marketing campaign, the sooner you’ll begin to see positive results. And, the sooner you can begin to appreciate the value of inbound marketing for your bank.
